Matskási István (szerk.): A Magyar Természettudományi Múzeum évkönyve 96. (Budapest 2004)

Papp, G.: A critical review of 16–17th century reports on meteorite falls in and around the Carpathian Basin

ANNALES HISTORICO-NATURALES MUSEI NATIONALIS HUNGARICI Volume 96 Budapest, 2004 pp. 19-28. A critical review of 16-17th century reports on meteorite falls in and around the Carpathian Basin (Additions and corrections to the NHM Catalogue of meteorites) G.PAPP Department of Mineralogy and Petrology, Hungarian Natural History Museum, H-1431 Budapest, Pf. 137, Hungary. E-mail: pappmin@ludens.elte.hu Abstract - Reports on four historical meteorite falls in and around the Carpathian Basin are discussed. The Keresztes (or Keresztesmező) fall, 1558 (although not listed in the NHM Catalogue of meteorites) was probably a genuine meteorite fall. Out of the other three falls (all listed in the NHM catalogue) the "Miskolcz" fall happened in 1560 and not in 1559. The "Steiermark" fall did not exist but corresponds to the (not listed) Odranec fall in Moravia (June 11, 1619). The "Ofen" fall (1642) was most probably a hailstorm and not a meteorite fall. In the appendix data about a fifth possible meteorite fall at the modern town Oradea (March 8, 1692) are briefly summarised. With one figure. Keywords - Meteorite falls, historical data, Carpathian Basin, Keresztes, Miskolcz, Odranec, Ofen, Oradea, Steiermark. INTRODUCTION Old chronicles frequently recorded accounts of unusual phenomena of nature (for a rich collection of examples see RÉTHLY 1962), among them fall of stones from heavens. Reports of four possible meteorite falls in the 16-17th century are discussed here. Three of them are listed as doubtful ones in the Natural History Museum (London) Catalogue of meteorites (GRADY 2000) but the published data proved to be either inaccurate or incomplete. The review of the original sources, on the one hand, cleared up many questions but on the other, demonstrated the difficulties in the interpretation of the sometimes contradictory or obscure historical accounts. KERESZTES / KERESZTESMEZŐ, 1558 Not listed by GRADY (2000). The fall was reported by three 16-17th century sources. The oldest, practically contemporaneous account was published by ISTVÁN